Examining health care reform

Aaron Benedetti

Rep. Dina Titus's recent committee vote against H.R.3200, the House's health care reform bill, highlights the struggles, questions and confusion surrounding President Barack Obama's push to reform America's health care system. Titus, who represents Nevada's 3rd Congressional District, revealed in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun that she chose to oppose the bill because of concerns that possible tax increases could hurt small businesses. Her defection from the Democratic voting bloc has raised controversy across the state.

Obama left the task of formulating health care reform largely with Congress. Congress, in turn, has produced bills and recommendations from three sources. First, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Edward Kennedy, passed the Affordable Health Choices Act. Meanwhile, the House put forward H.R.3200 (which has now been referred to committee), and the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Max Baucus, produced a number of health policy recommendations.

Linked below are a set of articles that can help clarify the current health care policy debate, ranging from articles that place the current struggle in a historical context to editorials on Obama's and Congress's proposals.

History and Context

An overview by The New York Times of the current health care policy debate as well as past attempts at health care reform
A PBS timeline of health care reform efforts

Bill Texts

A summary of the Affordable Health Choices Act passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
The full text of H.R.3200, the House's health care reform bill
The Senate Finance Committee's reports and recommendations (on health care delivery, coverage and financing reform)

Local and Statewide Reactions

A Las Vegas Sun report on Rep. Dina Titus's committee vote against H.R.3200
Anjeanette Damon's piece in the Reno Gazette-Journal about local reactions to current health care proposals

Clarifying the Debate Across the Aisle

Sen. Edward Kennedy's reflections, published in Newsweek, on a century of universal health care efforts
"An Incoherent Truth," an op-ed piece in The New York Times by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman
An NPR discussion of health care funding proposals with economists Paul Krugman and Stuart Butler
Health care expert Maggie Mahar's take on the current push for reform
A Newsweek editorial by Jacob Weisberg on our uniquely "American" health care solution